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Jeju uprising
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Jeju uprising
The Jeju uprising (in South Korea, the Jeju April 3 incident, Korean: 제주 4·3 사건) was an insurrection on Jeju Island, South Korea from April 1948 to May 1949. A year prior to its start, residents of Jeju had begun protesting elections scheduled by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to be held in the United States-occupied half of Korea, which they believed would entrench the division of the country.
A general strike was later organized by the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) from February to March 1948. The WPSK launched an insurgency in April 1948, attacking police and Northwest Youth League members stationed on Jeju who had been mobilized to suppress the protests by force. The First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee escalated the suppression of the uprising from August 1948, declaring martial law in November and beginning an "eradication campaign" against rebel forces in the rural areas of Jeju in March 1949, defeating them within two months. This resulting campaign has led to the event being called the Jeju massacre. Many captured rebels and suspected sympathizers were later extrajudicially executed upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and the existence of the Jeju uprising was officially censored and repressed in South Korea for several decades.
The Jeju uprising and its repression were notable for its extreme violence; between 14,000 and 30,000 people (10 percent of Jeju's population) were killed, and 40,000 fled to Japan. Other estimates reach as high as 80,000 dead. Atrocities and war crimes were committed by both sides, but historians have noted that the methods used by the South Korean government to suppress protesters and rebels were especially cruel, with violence against civilians by pro-government forces giving rise to the Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion in South Jeolla Province during the conflict. Some historians and scholars, including military historian Allan R. Millett, regard the Jeju uprising as the true beginning of the Korean War.
In October 2003, the National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident chaired by South Korean prime minister Goh Kun released a comprehensive report detailing the violence that occurred during the uprising, and South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun issued an official apology on behalf of the South Korean government. In 2019, the South Korean police and the defense ministry apologized for their involvement in the massacres during the Jeju uprising.
After Imperial Japan surrendered to Allied forces on August 15, 1945, the 35-year Japanese occupation of Korea ended. Korea was subsequently divided along the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union overseeing the north and the United States the south. In September 1945, Lt. General John R. Hodge established a military government to administer the southern region, including Jeju Island. In December 1945, representatives from the US, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom met to discuss a joint trusteeship. However, a lack of consensus led the US to bring the "Korean question" to the United Nations. On November 14, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 112, calling for a general election in Korea on May 10, 1948, under the supervision of the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea.
Fearing a loss of influence over northern Korea, the Soviet Union rejected the UN resolution and barred UNTCOK from entering the region. The UNTCOK nevertheless proceeded with the elections, albeit only in the southern half of the peninsula. In response, the Soviet Union organized its own elections in the north on August 25, 1948.
Residents of Jeju island were some of the most active participants in the Korean independence movement against colonial Japanese occupation. Due to the island's relative isolation from the mainland peninsula, Jeju experienced relative peace after the Japanese surrender, contrasting with the period of heavy unrest in the southern region of mainland Korea. As with the mainland, the period immediately following the Japanese surrender was characterized by the formation of People's Committees, local autonomous councils tasked with coordinating the transition towards Korean independence. When the American military government arrived on Jeju in late 1945, the Jeju People's Council was the only existing government on the island. As a testament to this relative stability, the US military governor under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) John R. Hodge stated in October 1947 that Jeju was "a truly communal area that is peacefully controlled by the People's Committee without much Comintern influence."[page needed]
The Jeju People's Committee had come under the directive of the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) by late 1946. The WPSK encouraged the People's Council to establish military and political committees, as well as mass organizations. The 1946 USAMGIK dissolution of the provisional People's Republic of Korea and their associated People's Committees on the mainland sparked the Autumn Uprising of 1946, which did not spread to Jeju (as its PC still operated virtually undisturbed by the American military government) but did contribute to rising tensions on the island. However, since the 2000s, many South Korean liberal scholars and bereaved families of the victims of the massacre have maintained that the Jeju People's Committee has nothing to do with directive of the WPSK.
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Jeju uprising
The Jeju uprising (in South Korea, the Jeju April 3 incident, Korean: 제주 4·3 사건) was an insurrection on Jeju Island, South Korea from April 1948 to May 1949. A year prior to its start, residents of Jeju had begun protesting elections scheduled by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to be held in the United States-occupied half of Korea, which they believed would entrench the division of the country.
A general strike was later organized by the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) from February to March 1948. The WPSK launched an insurgency in April 1948, attacking police and Northwest Youth League members stationed on Jeju who had been mobilized to suppress the protests by force. The First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee escalated the suppression of the uprising from August 1948, declaring martial law in November and beginning an "eradication campaign" against rebel forces in the rural areas of Jeju in March 1949, defeating them within two months. This resulting campaign has led to the event being called the Jeju massacre. Many captured rebels and suspected sympathizers were later extrajudicially executed upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and the existence of the Jeju uprising was officially censored and repressed in South Korea for several decades.
The Jeju uprising and its repression were notable for its extreme violence; between 14,000 and 30,000 people (10 percent of Jeju's population) were killed, and 40,000 fled to Japan. Other estimates reach as high as 80,000 dead. Atrocities and war crimes were committed by both sides, but historians have noted that the methods used by the South Korean government to suppress protesters and rebels were especially cruel, with violence against civilians by pro-government forces giving rise to the Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion in South Jeolla Province during the conflict. Some historians and scholars, including military historian Allan R. Millett, regard the Jeju uprising as the true beginning of the Korean War.
In October 2003, the National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident chaired by South Korean prime minister Goh Kun released a comprehensive report detailing the violence that occurred during the uprising, and South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun issued an official apology on behalf of the South Korean government. In 2019, the South Korean police and the defense ministry apologized for their involvement in the massacres during the Jeju uprising.
After Imperial Japan surrendered to Allied forces on August 15, 1945, the 35-year Japanese occupation of Korea ended. Korea was subsequently divided along the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union overseeing the north and the United States the south. In September 1945, Lt. General John R. Hodge established a military government to administer the southern region, including Jeju Island. In December 1945, representatives from the US, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom met to discuss a joint trusteeship. However, a lack of consensus led the US to bring the "Korean question" to the United Nations. On November 14, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 112, calling for a general election in Korea on May 10, 1948, under the supervision of the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea.
Fearing a loss of influence over northern Korea, the Soviet Union rejected the UN resolution and barred UNTCOK from entering the region. The UNTCOK nevertheless proceeded with the elections, albeit only in the southern half of the peninsula. In response, the Soviet Union organized its own elections in the north on August 25, 1948.
Residents of Jeju island were some of the most active participants in the Korean independence movement against colonial Japanese occupation. Due to the island's relative isolation from the mainland peninsula, Jeju experienced relative peace after the Japanese surrender, contrasting with the period of heavy unrest in the southern region of mainland Korea. As with the mainland, the period immediately following the Japanese surrender was characterized by the formation of People's Committees, local autonomous councils tasked with coordinating the transition towards Korean independence. When the American military government arrived on Jeju in late 1945, the Jeju People's Council was the only existing government on the island. As a testament to this relative stability, the US military governor under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) John R. Hodge stated in October 1947 that Jeju was "a truly communal area that is peacefully controlled by the People's Committee without much Comintern influence."[page needed]
The Jeju People's Committee had come under the directive of the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) by late 1946. The WPSK encouraged the People's Council to establish military and political committees, as well as mass organizations. The 1946 USAMGIK dissolution of the provisional People's Republic of Korea and their associated People's Committees on the mainland sparked the Autumn Uprising of 1946, which did not spread to Jeju (as its PC still operated virtually undisturbed by the American military government) but did contribute to rising tensions on the island. However, since the 2000s, many South Korean liberal scholars and bereaved families of the victims of the massacre have maintained that the Jeju People's Committee has nothing to do with directive of the WPSK.
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